DTI: Shipbuilding may propel exports growth

Saturday, February 11, 2012

FOLLOWING the sobering data on the country’s export performance in 2011, the Department of Trade of Industry (DTI) turned its attention to other avenues for growth, including shipbuilding.

"We are continuing to look for these additional BPOs (business process outsourcing) that can bring our economic growth faster. It could be shipbuilding. We are now fourth largest in the world after China, Korea and Japan," Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said.

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Domingo said Tsuneishi and Hanjin, two major shipbuilders in the country, are planning to expand operations in the Philippines, while others also expressed interest to set up shop.

The government aims to promote investments in the shipbuilding industry by focusing on identified markets such as Korea and Japan. It expects investments in the industry to grow to P93 billion by 2014.

Aside from shipbuilding, the DTI is pinning its hopes on the performance of nine other areas for the attainment of doubling exports to $120 billion by 2016.

Other export winners chosen for their track record and their capacity for higher growth include the BPO industry and tourism in the services sector, electronics, agribusiness, minerals, motor vehicle parts, garments and wearable and furniture and home furnishing.

On Friday, the National Statistics Office reported a 6.9 percent contraction of merchandise exports, from $51.498 billion in 2010 to $47.967 billion last year. Exports comprise a third of the Philippines' $200 billion economy, according to the World Bank.

Negative external developments such as the European debt and economic woes, the weak recovery of the United States economy, and the supply chain disruptions due to flooding in Thailand were among the factors for the decline.

With this, University of the Philippines economist Benjamin Diokno called on the government to treat this dismal export performance with a great sense of urgency.

“It affects manufacturing output and joblessness significantly,” he said in an email. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)